Chapter 35
Rachel went back to her hotel room, where Red and Stacy were waiting for her. She gave them the rundown of her conversation with Matt and told them that he had confirmed Gavin as the man he saw with Erin at Flora.
“Good,” said Red. “Now that we have a positive ID on Gavin, I can proceed with a full background check on him as well. When he gets back from his business trip, I’ll pay him a visit. His wife expects him back in a couple of days.”
“Well, that’s settled. You work on Beckwith, and Stacy and I’ll spend a little more time looking into Melinda’s past. Did you hear anything on that background search we started on her?”
“Not yet,” said Red, walking to the door.
“I’ll kick it off by combing through the yearbook Alanna left for me at the front desk,” said Rachel.
“I gotta make some phone calls. Let me know if y’all find anything interesting.” Red left the room.
Stacy climbed onto the bed next to Rachel, and they opened the Sacred Heart Academy’s navy-and-silver yearbook. The first half of the book was filled with pages for clubs, sports, the band, and the usual popularity photos. They spotted Melinda in a lot of those pages. However, Erin stole the spotlight in the Most Beautiful and Best All-Around categories in the popular pages. Melinda garnered the Best Dressed honor.
“Ouch. I bet Melinda would’ve liked to have won ‘Most Beautiful.’” Rachel flipped through more of the pages. “If this is what Erin looked like their senior year, I’d like to see what she looked like when she was a sophomore or junior.”
“Do high schools still have this junk? I can’t believe people would condone such superficial behavior. ‘Most Beautiful’ and ‘Prettiest Smile’? Really?”
“What did you get in high school? Most Likely to Spill a Secret?” Rachel chuckled.
Stacy grabbed a pillow and hit Rachel with it. “I was a geek in high school. Always had my head buried in a book or working the school newspaper. Hair in pigtails, braces, and skinny as a twig.”
“I find that hard to believe.” Rachel looked at her friend. She was still on the small side, but her body was toned and athletic. She also had a vibrant personality, and Rachel had noticed the way men sneaked glances at her when Stacy walked into the room.
“I came out of my shell in college.” Stacy flipped through the pages and stopped. She stared at a picture of a young man and pointed to him. “Adam Donnelly. Did Alanna mention a younger brother when you talked to her?”
Rachel leaned over and studied the page. The heading was “Sophomores,” and the page was full of class pictures. Adam looked very similar to Melinda. He had shaggy blond hair, the same heart-shaped face as Melinda, blue eyes, and full pouty lips. His eyes didn’t quite meet the camera lens, looking slightly off to the left instead. “I believe she did. I can call her and confirm. She seemed more than willing to give me information last time.”
Stacy waited while Rachel tried Alanna on her cell phone.
After a short polite conversation with Alanna, Rachel hung up.
“Well?” Stacy asked. “The suspense is killing me.”
“Adam Donnelly is in fact Melinda’s younger brother. And…he has an extensive criminal history,” Rachel answered. “We just might be on to something here.”